Aviation: The Monster

The U.S. last week sketched the details of
what it hopes will be the world's first supersonic commercial
transport. Federal Aviation Administrator Najeeb Halaby, asked by the
Kennedy Administration to investigate the feasibility of such a plane,
spelled out the desired quality of what he called "the monster." The
new plane should cruise at Mach 3 (about 2,000 m.p.h.) at an altitude
of 65,000 to 75,000 feet, fly from Los Angeles to New York in 74
minutes, and zip across the North Atlantic in less than two hours.